Safety, frequency key to 2025 SEPTA ridership

by Bob Previdi, policy director, Save the Train
Posted 1/1/25

Thanks to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s efforts, SEPTA has secured enough funding to avoid service cuts through June 30, 2025, providing much-needed financial stability for the near future. However, the real challenge – long-term growth and sustainability – remains. The 2026 budget offers a crucial opportunity to reshape SEPTA for a post-Covid world. The events of that summer provide a platform for change, but we must act swiftly to craft a forward-thinking narrative – not just for the survival of SEPTA but for its long-term success.

Save the Train will continue fighting for …

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Safety, frequency key to 2025 SEPTA ridership

Posted

Thanks to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s efforts, SEPTA has secured enough funding to avoid service cuts through June 30, 2025, providing much-needed financial stability for the near future. However, the real challenge – long-term growth and sustainability – remains. The 2026 budget offers a crucial opportunity to reshape SEPTA for a post-Covid world. The events of that summer provide a platform for change, but we must act swiftly to craft a forward-thinking narrative – not just for the survival of SEPTA but for its long-term success.

Save the Train will continue fighting for funding in Harrisburg while pressing SEPTA to address two major concerns of our members: increasing service frequency and enhancing safety. We’ll also focus on improving local stations and promoting ridership here in the Northwest and push for better schedule coordination to make SEPTA services a more compelling choice.

In Harrisburg, SEPTA must do more to acknowledge the challenges caused by the pandemic and the decline in ridership and articulate a clear strategy to enhance the system to attract both new and former riders. Our membership wants frequent, all-day service across bus, rail, and trolley networks, and we will press SEPTA to make these positive changes. But as a public agency with extremely limited resources, recovering the 20% of ridership that evaporated during the pandemic requires more funding from Harrisburg to support changes that will coax riders to return.

Data from other transit systems, such as Chicago's Metra, show a shift in commuter patterns: While peak-hour ridership remains low, reverse-peak, off-peak, and weekend travel have surged. It’s safe to assume demand in Philadelphia mirrors this trend. So SEPTA should reconsider its reliance on peak-hour service and shift to expanding midday, evening, and weekend offerings. But making smart changes requires extensive study and a robust marketing campaign – both of which take dollars and vision.

Before the pandemic, SEPTA launched initiatives like Bus Revolution and Reimagine Regional Rail to improve efficiency and encourage more use of our amazing labyrinth of rail draped across the entire Delaware Valley. Unfortunately, these efforts stalled. To move forward, SEPTA needs to prove to legislators that it understands how to attract riders and run a system that meets and serves customers where they are today, not where they were decades ago. In the Northwest, we've seen modest improvements in ridership. A better alignment of schedules on the Chestnut Hill East and West branches on the weekends is a good start. Now we need to see hourly weekend service restored and make the same coordinated adjustments during the week. Middays, reverse-peak hours, and weekends should no longer be treated as secondary services—they are essential. Public transit must evolve to meet the demands of today’s flexible workforce and modern commuters.

Safety is another critical hurdle. Many riders feel unsafe – whether from direct experience or from hearing about problems – and it’s a major deterrent. While SEPTA’s outreach programs are among the best in the country, those efforts are woefully underfunded compared to the scale of the problem. SEPTA cannot be expected to solve this alone – and addressing a societal issue that’s bigger than transit agencies also requires additional funding.

As budget discussions for 2026 unfold in Harrisburg early next year, SEPTA should outline a comprehensive plan for legislators, not just ask to fill the funding gap. We will continue to do our part to advocate for what SEPTA needs, but we also want to find ways to rebuild our local ridership and invite you to join us in doing so. If you have an idea to encourage ridership at your school, senior center, or place of worship, we want to hear from you. Sign up at Savethetrain.org and let us know.